Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said tonight he was committed to the north-south peace deal that ended Africa's longest civil war and there would be no return to hostilities after a crisis threatened the pact.
"I would like to assure you there will be no return to war whatsoever," he said at a state banquet with South African President Thabo Mbeki.
"We are committed to the full implementation of the agreement in letter and spirit ... and work together in genuine partnership for resolving the many issues and for attaining unity of the Sudan," said Mr Bashir.
The 2005 agreement between Khartoum and rebels largely based in the southern part of the country ended the 20-year civil war, which claimed 2 million lives.
But members of the former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) pulled out of the northern government last month saying Khartoum had not implemented key parts of the agreement.
The two sides met today to seek a final deal to end the political crisis. One issue cited was the presence of government soldiers in southern oil fields.
Yesterday, Mr Bashir said in Burundi that northern government troops remaining in the semi-autonomous south would quit the region before the end of the year.
Sudan is all too familiar with devastating conflicts.
Some 200,000 people have died since rebels took up arms in Darfur in 2003 accusing the central government in Khartoum of neglect. Khartoum says its critics exaggerate the crisis.
Mr Mbeki said he would strengthen his country's commitment to a UN-African Union peacekeeping force for Darfur "to add to the military and police contingents we have sent to Darfur as part of AMIS (African Union Mission in Sudan)."
While much of the violence has been blamed on the Janjaweed, a predominantly Arab militia allied to the Sudanese government, Darfur faces new challenges as a result of tribal battles and splintering among the rebel groups.